FREDDY GONZALEZ | Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN — With two goalkeepers working overtime on the evening, it was almost ironic that the biggest save of the night was actually stopped by a goal post.
With the McAllen Lady Bulldogs up 2-1 and just over a minute left in the game, Harlingen South’s Mallory Grannum dribbled by a Lady Bulldog defender and nearly stunned the visiting McAllen contingency. Instead, the junior’s near-miraculous chip ricocheted off the frame and preserved the 2-1 victory for the Lady Bulldogs in a Class 6A regional quarterfinal at Boggus Stadium on Friday.
But with two of the Rio Grande Valley’s most storied programs meeting up, it was the type of game that McAllen head coach Patrick Arney expected.
“I was hoping for a big win, but I was expecting a tight game and we seem to bring out the best in each others teams and the Lady Hawks proved it,” said Arney. “Even down to the end when I saw it (the ball) hit the pole with under two minutes left, I thought I’d have to go buy the post a Christmas present or something, but it was a tough game and Harlingen played really well, but in the end I think we just had more opportunities to put the game away.”
With the win, McAllen extended its win streak to an impressive 18 games overall and moves on to the Region IV-6A tournament in San Antonio next week.
While the biggest play of the night came from an inanimate object, it was McAllen’s Sophia Soto that put the first goal on the scoreboard. The sophomore forward used her speed to outrun the Hawks’ defensive line and tuck it into the left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead inside the 23rd minute in the first half.
Down by one, the Lady Hawks responded after a player was taken down inside the penalty area with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Grannum stepped up to the penalty spot and evened the game at 1-1.
After the break with the game tied, McAllen’s Chloe Fallek came off the bench and stunned the home crowd with a perfectly place shot from the edge of the box to the top corner of the net.
“These are probably two of the best programs in the Valley and I have to give credit to the girls,” said Arney. “Chloe Fallek came off the bench and put a hell of a good shoot in which was just a screamer. It was a great shot and the girls just played hard, but we have to play smarter and we have to do the little things to win the game.”
Despite the loss, Harlingen South head coach Omar Pedroza was proud of the effort shown by his players.
“Nobody gave us much of chance coming into the game,” said Pedroza. “Everybody that knows us knows that we play defensively and our game plan was to stay with them, and hopefully have a chance at the end and we did.
“The goal post got in the way, but these things happen in soccer. McAllen is a heck of a team and I think this McHi team is better than last year’s team, and last year’s team was really good. We had our chances but it just didn’t work out.”